UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor: Investigate the Possibility that Israel is Committing the Crime of Genocide Against the Palestinian People

Letter of Support from the BDS National Committee (BNC) for the Israel Genocide? Campaign

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) welcomes and supports your initiative to encourage people worldwide to write to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and demand that the UN conduct an enquiry into the possibility that Israel may have committed the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people and publish its findings and recommendations.

In light of earlier and alarming findings of independent experts, in particular since Israel’s hermetic siege and separation of the occupied Gaza Strip in 2007 and the consecutive waves of mass killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the BNC considers this initiative, which is directed specifically at the responsible UN personnel, to be important and timely. All, including the former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the OPT, Prof. Richard Falk, separate Arab League- and UN-led investigations into Israel’s 2008/9 war on Gaza, and the 2014 Russell Tribunal on Palestine special session on Israeli violations of international law in Gaza and elsewhere in the OPT, have all confirmed that Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity have been perpetrated with impunity and, furthermore, that direct and public incitement to genocide by Israeli political, religious and parliamentary leaders have been well documented. Therefore, the UN Office of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide should be pressured to investigate if Israeli officials are responsible for the crime of genocide, including the crime of incitement to genocide, and to assess and prevent the risk of a future Israeli genocide against (parts of) the Palestinian people.

While supporting the Israel Genocide? Campaign, and irrespective of its results, the BNC calls on campaigners to continue to build public awareness and pressure for holding Israel accountable for its regime of colonialism, apartheid and occupation, including the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in this context against Palestinians since 1948, such as ethnic cleansing and mass killing of civilians.Both, facts and international law strongly support this approach. Like the crime of genocide, colonialism and the crime of apartheid are internationally prohibited. They also result in similar legal responsibilities: all states and international organizations, such as the United Nations, are to isolate and suppress Israeli apartheid and colonialism, bring responsible individuals to justice, and ensure full reparation for the Palestinian victims.

In solidarity,Mahmoud Nawajaa
BNC General Coordinator

TAKE ACTION now and write a letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor. Make sure to post a copy of the letter in our comments as well, so we can publish it.